Two-speed axle gearing



Aug. 30, 1932. w. s. AUSTIN TWO-SPEED AXLE GEARING a Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 20, 1928 lnoenior X5 Walter 5. QusT'm Ndornezgg Aug. 30, 1932. w. s. AUSTIN TWO-SPEED AXLE GEARING Filed Feb. 20, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 noenTot 1 Walter 15 (\uatin 1932- w. s. AUSTIN TWO-SPEED AXLE GEARIN I Filed Feb. 20, 1928 SSheetS-Sheet 3 lnueuiot Walter 5. (\usim- {March 31,1914, contains many features, of construction of automobiles, making use-of Patented Aug. 30, 1932 UNITED STATES rem ss WALTER s. AUSTIN, or GRAND a arms, rarer-risen Two-SPEED AXLE GEARInG 1 Application filed February 20, 1928. qseriaino. eta-sea This invention relates to ina-ylbe termed a two-speed axle drive for the rear axles of automobiles, the design of theinvention being such that the relative speeds of the drive 'may be transmitted 'to the rear? axle shaft in two difierent relations, with consequent economyin use and additional com many of the parts {thereofwherc the invention is applied, thereby keeping thecostat i the lowest terms. Furthermore,.the design and appearance of the automobile .is not i changed in any respect, as no cumbersome or unsightly parts are used, In fact. one im- 'portant feature "of the invention resides in the solution of the problem. ofmaking-the device practical and workable within the:

limits of the spacein which the mechanism i must be installed. I

Manyother objects and purposes, with novel constructionsandarrangementof parts I for obtaining the same,will be apparentas an understanding of the invention is had from' the following descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which, Fig, 1 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the differential housing and the ad- Fig. 2 is an elevation of the jacent portions of the rear axle housing and driving shaft housing, my invention being installed in relation thereto. 7

the smaller of the driving pinion sleeves used in the construction. 7 t Fig. '3 is a central longitudinal section therethrough. i

Fig. 4.- is a partial vertical section andelevation illustrating the rear bearing for the driving shaft of the mechanism which is mounted at the be ck end. and substantially in alignment with the propeller shaft.- n

Fig. 5 is a transverse section substantially on the plane of line 5 5'of Fig.1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows. Figs- 6 and 7 are similar transverse sections both t an 1;- butlooking in oppositedirections,Fig. 6

\ mobile,

. pinion clutch. member, and

ing and. the ringigears associated therewith, jthesamebeing open attheir front and. rear front end of,

ring and gasket 5 may be interposed between ing. The housing 6 terminates at its forward the 1 looking toward the frontas indicated byl thearrows and Fig. 7 toward the rear Fig. 8 is a transverse vertical sectionfsubstantially on the plane line 8+8 of Fig. 1. v

, Fig. -9..is a. side elevation of the driving shaft extendedor located. atithe reariof, and connectedto the'propeller shaft-"of the autoit being formed with clutchielements. 50 therein.

. Figs. and; llare oppositeend" elevations thereof. I M

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary vertical section therethrough.

Fig. 13' is a central vertical section offthe ,movable clutchmembr which is] slidably mounted on the shaft member shown in Fig.9. i 5 V r 1 Figs. 14 and 15 are opposite end elevations thereof. I i r Fig. 16 is a 'sideelevation of said movable clutchmember. 1 I Fig. -17:is a longitudinal vertical section throughthepinion sleeve carrying the larger which is mounted aroundthe movable Fig. 18 is an end elevat on thereof.

Like reference characters refer to like parts in the different figures of the drawings, In the-construction shown,,.housings 1 for the parts 2 of-the rear axle shaft are provided which are enlarged as indicate at la tov pass around the differential gearinghoussides, being closed at the rear by removable housing member 3 fastened means of screwse to the rear axle housing- A spacing theparts as shown in'Fig. l. A housing 6 for the clutch control mechanism of-the twospeed axle drive is secured by similar cap screws at the frontandcloses-thefront openend 1n a sleeve 7 ntowh ch the rear end of the housing 8,10021l36dj around the propeller shaft 8a, extendsjbeing suitably secured therein.

' The housing described is equipped with V suitable bearing carrying portions 9 at its rear end which extends rearwardly and are completed by semi-circular clips 10 whereby suitable housings for ball bearings 11 are provided which may be adjusted as to position by suitable adjusting devices 12, shown in Fig. 1, the constructive detail ofwhich is of no importance in the present invention. The

" bearings 11 serve to rotatably carry and supaxle extend. The difierential'housi-n housin'g-fixbeing locatedin a verticaliplane and -secured in place by 'suitableicap 'screws port the difierentialihousing-13-into which the opposite ends of the parts 2 of the rear has 'a circular web 14 extending therefrom a jacent one end, to which tworing' gears 15 and 16 ring: gear 15 is of smaller diameter-than the ring gear 16'and liesinside of the plane of the gear-1'6, both of'the gears 15-and16-extending into the housing- 6. v

supporting; member 18 lies across the 19 (see Fig.4) which threadinto bosses projecting from the inner side of said housing 6. Substantially at its middle point it is formed into a'ring 20 for the'housing as a suitable ball bearing 21. The ring gear '15Pt1SS6S "aroundthe 'ring 20 'at one side thereof and the center oflthe ring 20 lies in line 'withthe ;.axis of the drive shaft.

v second ball bearing 22 :is mounted in the housing (Sadjace'nt itsfront end ba-tlco'fithe rear end of the integral sleeve on Sal 'd'JhOHS- The two "bearings 21"and 22'carry a drive shaft 23 which is connected inanysuit "able manner with the shaft 80. "The drive "shaft 23,.a short distance back of-its front'end,

ie-enlarged in diameterand is milled at spaced apart points soa's tomake three'spaced apart splines, indicated at 24 on the? shaft,-back of which are three spacedapart radiallyr'projectin'g fingersj25 from each of which attheir outer si'des'and atpoints between the front and 'rearends thereof; lugs 26 project;- Back "of th'fifngers 25 the shaft 23 is reducedsome- 'rear endof the sleeve 29 extends ashort dista-nee back of the rearends of the fingers125,

as shown in 'Fig512.

clutch member in theform of-a sleeve 30 isslidably mounted on drive shaft23. The rear portion *of the slee've 'is red-uced in'-- size and is slottedlengthwise for a portion' of-its length in a plurality ofspaced-apart points whereby three clutch fingers 31 are provided which pass through the slots between the out standing fingers 25 on the shaft 23 and under the sleeve 29 previously described. From the sleeve 30, substantially at its juncture with the fingers 31, other radial fingers or clutch elements 32 extend radially outwardly being spaced from each other the same angular distances that fingers 31 are spaced apart. It will be noted that the rear ends or the'fingers 31are "cut with a backward lead 33 while the front sides of the clutch part or fingers 32 are out with a forward lead, as

indicated'at 33m 7 are. permanently secured (by suitable cap H screws 17 asfully" illustrated in Fig.1. fThe Over the movable clutch sleeve and the fingers 31 and 32 extending-therefrom, a

'member is located comprising a sleeve-like portion 34 which, atitsrear part, isina- .chined to :makea bevelled pinion 35 as shown in Fig. 17. This sleeve is formed with an' an 'nular recess 36 at its inner side and adjacent its frontend the recess is large enough to receive the ra'di ally projecting clutch fingers '32;-'and-at itsfrontend is formed with a "pluralityof inwardly extending clutch 'fingers 37 spaced from each other proper distances in order that the-fingers fl32fmaybe received between them when the clutchis 'in itsforwardposition, its rear end the pinion sleeve 34 has an inwardly extending annular lip 38' with a' beari-ng face 39 which bears against the rear 'end'of the sleeve 29. The'sleeve 34 is mountedfor free rotative movement on the sleeve 29. It is provided that the inner diameter of the fin .g'ers 37 shall havea loose bearing, on the outside of the sleeve 30. This has the effect of a longer bearingfor the large pinion and keeps it from rocking as will later appear; f

A small pinion sleeve 40 with pinion teeth thereon is located over andloosely-mounted on the' extension 27 of the shaft23, and is in mesh with thesmaller ringge'ar 15, while the pinion 35 formed at the rear end of sleeve 34 is in mesh with the outer and larger ringgear 16. The-frontend of the, small pinion; sleeve 40 is machined to provide threeforwardly extending clutch fingers 41 between which the rear ends of, the fingers 31 of'the movable. clutch member are receivedwh-en the clutch member is in its rearward position.

"A yoke 42 connects with 'the'front end 30' "of the movable clutch-member and a rod 43 slidably mounted and extending through the housing 6 is attachedto the yokewhereby the .cmovableclutch membermay be shifted to 3 three positions In the forward position the fingers 32 y'villbe between the fingers3i on the larger pinion sleeve and'a driving of the rear axle takes place from shaft 23 through ,the slidable c-lutch'meinber 30 to the larger [pinion-arid thence to the ring geargl6'. At the other extreme position of; movement ofi the clutch member, fingers' 3l arejengaged by the fingers'el of the small pinion "sleeve-40 where lat.

adv

by there will be a drive fromthe shaft 23' through the smaller pinion to the ring gear 15. At an intermediate position, and the one shown in Fig. 1, the clutch fingers 31 and 32 are not engaged with their pinion sleeves and the mechanism is neutral whereby shaft 23 may rotate continuously without in any way affecting either of the ring gears 15 or 16.

The construction described is very practical and operative in every way. It is a design of construction which greatly reduces the" making heavier the various housings which are used on automobiles for covering the dif-' ferential gearing, the rear axle and the drive shaft; while the parts are given the necessary strength and durability to render the construction capable of standing the long time service it must undergo without breakage if it is to be successful. The bearing at 21 must have certain size and durability for success and to obtain this it is located partly within the inner ring gear 15. The clutch construc tion described is very practical and service-1 able and is designed to occupy the very smallest space without Sacrifice of strength and durability. The provision. of the larger ring gear on the outside to be driven by the larger pinion, and the smaller ring gear on the inside to be driven by the smaller pinion, coupled with the clutch structure described so as to alternately connect the drive shaft with the two ring gears, is also afeature of the invention and one far beyond the obvious or the province of a designer having no prob- And 1n lems of limited space to consider. the present case the space is very restricted and the structure must be practically operative and workable within such space. In addition a very important feature of the inven' ,tion is that the pinions rotate on the drive shaft only when free of load, and always, when under load, they turn with the shaft, thus eliminating heavy friction wear and adding to the life of the construction. The lead indicated at 33 and 33a on the clutch fingers 31 and 32 makes the connection of the clutch with either driving pinion very simple and easy, and the lead is reversed with respect to the two fingers 31 and 32 by reason of the fact that when the mechanism is driven by pinion 35, the pinion sleeve 40 is turned freely on the extension 27 of shaft 23 faster than the shaft on which the clutch member is carried is turning, the opposite being true with respect to the larger pinion sleeve 34 which,

when a connection is made between it and the clutch fingers 32 is rotating slower than said shaft 23.

It will be noted throughout thatthe clutch sleeve 30' has three spaced apart fingers'31 to engage between three cooperatingfingers 41 on the small pinion sleeve 10 andthatthe radially projecting fingers32 are also three in number to engage between the three inwardly extending clutch-fingers 37 on the larger pinion sleeve 34. This a very-important' featureoflthe' present invention. No other number of fingers'in the .clutch engaging elements 1 of the construction will produce a like gdesirable result. With the use of l3l16 three 'finger construction throughout not only is there; a. greater strength to -the contacting. parts f .the

clutch elements but it lends itself .to a perfect seating of the fingers of the clutch sleeve with all the cooperatingfingers 4:1 or 37 o'nthe two pinion sleeves which cannot be obtained with any other number of clutch fingers.

t will be noted that the housing 6, the bearings 11, the differential gear housing 13 with the ring gears 15 and 16, the shafti23 and the pinions and clutch' mechanism mounted thereon may all'be assembled'as a unit and then assembled with the rear axle housing 1 by passing the ring-gears through the front and rear openings inthe axle housing, the two parts 2 of the rear'axle being inserted and assembled with the differential housing 13 by moving the same longitudinal-'3 ly into connection "therewith. I Thereafter the shaft 841 with its housing 8 may becon- "nectedwith the front ends ofthehousing 6 and theidrive shaft 23 respectively;

' This provides a very economical and sim ple means of assembly and a practical manufacturlng construction whereby simplicity andeconomy is attained.

1 The structure describedis a preferredform V of construction and one which has proved very practical in all respects. The invention, however, .may be embodied. in other forms and I do not wish to be restricted to the specific form shown. For instance, while the shaft 8a and the drive shaft 23' are shown' as connected by a sleeve in alignment with each other,the sleeve form of connection is no-way essential to the invention and any other suitable form of connection, for instance the universal joint, maybe used quite as well. The invention is defined. in the appended claims and is to be considered comprehensive of all forms ofstructure' coming -within the scope. thereof.

I claim: 1. In a mechanism of the class described, a drive shaft for automobiles. formed between its ends with an annular enlarged portion slotted longitudinally at a plurality of spaced apart places, .a sleeve located around liand -se'euredato; said annularly enlarged por-; 3 ation .1016 the ashaft, 1 a second-sleeve mounted x011 itheishaft'and slotted fora part-of its, length to provide fingers to pass through :said slots:ih:the driveshaft underneath the first-sleevazsaidsecond sleeve also: having an annular :enla'rgement which; is slotted toremake outwardly extending radial ifin-gers, a pinion loosely: mounted at the vrear end of athe.driveshaftwith which; the rear ends of :theifirst fingers engage on-movementof the second sleeve in one direction,asaid pinion :be i-ngformed at its front-endwith recesses 'forireceptionofthe ends of the first: fingers 0f said :second sleeve, third sleeve formed lat one:;end with-a larger pinion f loosely -n1ountedonatheifirstsleeve-and around the "second sleeve and formed at thelend opposite its .lpinion :end with spaced-apart inwardly I 29 projecting lugs between which the; radial fin gersi on 'theiannular, enlarged portion of the -second 'sleeve'areiadapted to pass on movee ment :of the second-sleeve inthe opposite directiom:andmeans for manually moving said 25 sec ondsleeve back and forth.

p2..A construction containing the elements U in combination defined inclaim 1, said third nsleeve at the pinion end thereof beingformed with an annular inwardly extending lip 39 against the innerface of which the rear end of the first sleeve on the propeller shaft bears.

13. .In a gearingmechanism,,a' shaft formed between its'ends withv an enlarged portion, a sleeve lfixeditorthe enlarged portion and over- ;hanging. the :same, a pinion loosely mounted :upon :said. sleeve, another pinion loosely mounted upon the said shaft, said second-pinion having a portion of itsbearing upon the shaft "under 1 the said overhanging sleeve, means forclutching eitherlof the pinions to the said shaftandrgears meshing with the re- :spective pinions. v a I 4. In a device offthe type described, a driven shaft having spaced apart protuberiances extending radially therefrom, a pinion revolubly mounted upon said protuberances, a sleeve'rig'idwith the pinion extending toward the shaft at one side of the said wprotuberances, a secondpinion mounted on the shaft at theeopposite side of the protuberancesrelative to the sleeve, and clutch means slidable upon the shaft, said: clutch means being engageable with the said sleeve and also extending between said protuberances and beneath said first pinionnwhereby it may be engaged with the second pinion for the purposedescribed. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

,WALTER 2S. AUSTIN.

M ss n 

